85th street surf session with the kids...

Williamsburg 2011

June Concert Previews for ON TAP Magazine in DC

SATURDAY, JUNE 25
Dinosaur Jr., Henry Rollins, and OFF! At 9:30 Club
J Mascis and Lou Barlow grew up in Western Massachusetts, starting a hardcore band called Deep Wound. From there it was Mogo, Dinosaur, then Dinosaur Jr., what they themselves have called “ear-bleeding country.” Along with drummer Murph, Dinosaur Jr. built a strong following with their unique slacker alternative sound in the late 80s and early 90s before disbanding in 1997, with Barlow going on to form Sebadoah. The three reunited in 2005 and have since released two records, 2007’s “Beyond” and “Farm” in 2009. The night’s performance will include the 1988 “Bug” performed in its entirety, along with an interview of the band held by none other than Henry Rollins. There’s no telling how that will go.

However, opening for Dinosaur Jr. is the most revolutionary collaboration of the last year. Following a falling out amongst the members of the Circle Jerks while trying to record a new album, Keith Morris and Dimitri Coats of Burning Brides went on to enlist the talents of old school Red Kross bassist Steven Shane McDonald and former Rocket from the Crypt drummer Mario Rubalcaba to form one of the heaviest outfits to come from the streets of Los Angeles in a long time. OFF! is a refreshing throwback of the honest and aggressive punk days Morris rose out of with his early bands Black Flag and the Circle Jerks, yet it’s fresh and current, coming from the unique blend of band members assembled. Releasing the four song E.P., “1st EP,” the band shot four separate videos for each song on the record which went viral quickly. Following up the four songs, along with 12 new ones, OFF! released their debut full-length, “First Four Eps” and has been on the road and playing festivals ever since.

“I’m excited, I’m happy, I love this band, I love the guys in this band,“ Morris said. “There’s not a lot of head trips. There’s a little bit of ego, but that’s OK, a little bit of ego doesn’t hurt, doesn’t kill anybody. The songs pretty much speak for themselves, the energy of the songs, the way that they blast out at you. I’m just totally psyched over this, totally jazzed.”
Starts at 8 p.m. $30. - Jason Walsh
9:30 Club: 815 V. St. NW, D.C.; 202-265-0930; www.930.com

FRIDAY, JUNE 3
Loudness, A Sound of Thunder, The Maiden Project, Dirty Passion at Jaxx
The “rock and roll crazy nights” of the 80s are on their way to Jaxx this June all the way from Japan. Loudness, formed in 1981 in Osaka under the name Lazy, gained much notoriety due to their friends in Twisted Sister in ‘85 when they released “Thunder in the East” on Atco Records. The single, “Crazy Nights,” introduced the world to the first noteworthy Japanese heavy metal band, who later toured with many of the big-time acts of the decade and were renown for their incredibly loud live performance. Opening for Loudness is a stacked roster which includes A Sound of Thunder and Iron Maiden tribute band, The Maiden Project. Rounding out the bill is Dirty Passion from Sweden, War Machine, and Seelow Heights.
Starts at 7 p.m. $23 advance/$25 day of show. - Jason Walsh
Jaxx: 6355 Rolling Rd. Springfield, VA; 703-569-5940; www.jaxxroxx.com

SATURDAY, JUNE 4
Stiff Little Fingers at the Black Cat
Formed in Belfast during the worst times of “The Troubles” in Ireland, Stiff Little Fingers is on of the most recognizable bands in the early years of the punk movement. Started as a Deep Purple cover band called Highway Star, they discovered the revolution of punk rock in ‘77 and changed their name to Stiff Little Fingers, based on a Vibrators song of the name. They went on to release “Inflammable Material” in 1978, influenced greatly by the insurgence they were experiencing daily in Northern Ireland, which became one of the truly important punk records of the early years. They played together and released 4 albums between ‘77-’83 before calling it quits, reforming again in ‘87 and playing off-an-on, through various incarnations from then until now. For a night of punk history, this is one not to miss.
Starts at 9 p.m. $16 $18. - Jason Walsh
Black Cat: 1811 14th St. NW, D.C.; 202-667-4490; www.blackcatdc.com

SATURDAY, JUNE 11
US Air Guitar Championships at 9:30 Club
Oh yeah, it’s back. All those insane performance junkies and exhibitionists will be giving it their all at this year’s regional US Air Guitar Championship on the stage of the 9:30 Club. Judged by technical merit, stage presence, and “airness,” the best and brightest have left the mirrors in their bedrooms to bring you their thoughtful rock interpretations. The DC engagement is one of 18 engagements across the nation, winding to Chicago on July 23 for the National Finals. What can you say, just hit up the internet for some clips and you’ll see exactly what you’re in for…Hendrix is crying somewhere.
Starts at 7 p.m. $20. - Jason Walsh
9:30 Club: 815 V. St. NW, D.C.; 202-265-0930; www.930.com

FRIDAY, JUNE 17
Dave Alvin and Los Straitjackets at the Birchmere
The “King of California” is hitting Alexandria this June with his folk-blues interpretations that have helped him make a name for himself. Dave Alvin has been rocking since the late 70s, having played in the underground bands The Blasters, X, The Flesh Eaters, and the Gun Club before going solo in 1987 in a new direction. He received a Grammy in 2000 for a collection of traditional blues and folk classics and most recently has provided the song, “Harlan County Line,” for the FX series Justified. Providing support for Dave Alvin and the Guilty Ones is Nashville’s Los Straitjackets, who play surf and rockabilly instrumental jams, all while donning Mexican wrestling masks.
Starts at 7:30 p.m. $25. - Jason Walsh
The Birchmere: 3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria, VA; 703-549-7500;www.birchmere.com

SATURDAY, JUNE 18
Willie Nelson’s Country Throwdown at Regency Furniture Stadium
Country music royalty is bringing some of the best and brightest of the genre for a true day of down home tunes. “Willie Nelson’s Country Throwdown 2011” hits the road with Willie headlining, alongside great artists like Jamey Johnson, Randy Houser, Jack Ingram, and Lee Brice. Willie is a legend, with a career spanning decades, and having been a part of the rise of “outlaw” country which included Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson. The festival will also include the talents of Brantley Gilbert, Craig Campbell, Drake White, and Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real.
Starts 3:30 p.m. $40. - Jason Walsh
Regency Furniture Stadium: 11765 St. Linus Dr., Waldorf, MD; 301-638-9788; www.countrythrowdown.com

SUNDAY, JUNE 19
Black Country Communion at 9:30 Club
Yet another “supergroup” has emerged from the ranks of rock royalty. Black Country Communion began as a collaboration with former Deep Purple bassist and vocalist Glenn Hughes with guitar “phenom” Joe Bonamassa, later recruiting Jason Bonham, son of legendary Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham, along with Dream Theater keyboard player, Derek Sherinian. The four-piece released their first record “Black Country” in 2010, and has a June 13 release date for their aptly named sophomore effort, “2.” Taking their name from the British industrial region where Hughes and Bonham grew up, Black Country Communion is a throwback to the great rock and blues of yesteryear.
Starts at 7 p.m. $49. - Jason Walsh

Flogging Molly: The Speed of Darkness

An interview with Dennis Casey
by Jason Walsh
photos by Jez Beasley

The city of Detroit was a once thriving manufacturing powerhouse, home to the “Big Three” in the automobile industry, Ford, Chrysler, and General Motors. A large percentage of the city’s workforce was employed by these three industrial giants until the economy plummeted. Chrysler declared bankruptcy and was bought by Fiat, General Motors filed Chapter 13 as well and was bailed out by the Federal Government, and Ford remains on life support. The people of Detroit have not fared well over the last few years and their once proud community lies in ruins.

Dave King and his wife, Bridget Regan, from Flogging Molly moved to Detroit prior to the recession. It was Regan’s hometown and the newlyweds watched as the city crumbled around them. When the time came to write the latest Flogging Molly record, the band came together at King and Regan’s home in the former Motor City, drawing inspiration from their surroundings. “Speed of Darkness” is the band’s fifth studio release, with stories and observations about the struggles of not only Detroit, but the entire world. The record’s first single, “Don’t Shut ’Em Down” is a battle cry for the blue-collar worker, in a time when they need a pat on the back.

I had a chance to speak with guitarist Dennis Casey about the new album and his experience in the city, as well as the band striking out on their own with their new label, “Borstal Beat Records.”

So tell me about the new record.

Casey: Well, it was recorded in Asheville, North Carolina and in El Paso, Texas. It’s called “Speed of Darkness.” What else can I tell you about it?

A lot of this record revolves around Detroit. Tell me about the Detroit influences.

Casey: Well, Dave, our singer who writes the lyrics and the majority of the songs, moved to Michigan with his wife, Bridget (Regan) who plays the fiddle. So, they have a house in Detroit and they bought this house a couple years ago and then the economy collapsed. Dave was very moved by what he saw, living in Detroit and seeing the effects of an economy collapsing has on a city like Detroit, which is pretty much a blue-collar city. He was inspired by that but he was also inspired by home because Ireland started having their fair share of problems as well.

On the record, you guys have a lot of songs that are talking about basically what everyone has been going through for the past couple years. Detroit is kind of like the model of what’s going on all over but just on a larger scale, and then you talk about Ireland. I mean you’ve got a lot of songs on here that talk about the perspective of what’s going on in the world right now.

Casey: Yeah, Dave actually said “it’s a record I had to write, it’s not a record I wanted to write.” I was of the same mind, I was like “how come nobody else is singing about this stuff, nobody’s writing about it?” I thought I’d hear more about it, but now I am. But for a while there, I was like “Jesus, isn’t anybody going to write about this, talk about this.” There’s a lot of people out there that are in a bad way, and as you know, lost their jobs, lost their homes.

I have family that live outside of Detroit in Kalamazoo and I go up there a couple times a year, and just seeing, even on the outskirts of the city, just how bad things are. But then again, you go around the country, I mean you guys travel a lot and go to different cities, and you can see the breakdown all over country over the last few years.

Casey: Yeah, we as the band got together in Dave’s basement in Detroit and we actually wrote and rehearsed the record there, so we spent a lot of time in Detroit and I’ve never spent that much time there. We did like three different writing sessions, each session was about two weeks, and I have to say, I’ve never seen any city quite like Detroit. It’s very unique unto itself, how it’s all spread out and it was just pockets of areas that are thriving somewhat and then there’s pockets of areas where it’s just completely run down, houses are boarded up, buildings abandoned. The city is so spread out. I didn’t realize how far and wide Detroit was. It just keeps going. I’ve never seen, in all my travels, a city quite like that.

That had to be a big influence on you guys being in that environment, and a lot of the tones of the songs being about that city and what’s going on there. What did you take away from your experience being up there?

Casey: The way things get destroyed, at the speed of which things get destroyed, like the train station there. We took a band photo there. We all thought that would be a great idea, because we were going to call the album “Speed of Darkness.” It just shows this beautiful structure that’s probably 50-60 years old, is in complete ruins, completely abandoned, completely destroyed, vandalized, and you look at this mammoth structure that’s just sitting there, not being used, and I just walk away with my head in my hands, just like “how can this happen? How can this be?” This is the richest country in the world supposedly. And this building, I don’t know if you’ve seen the Detroit train station, it’s beautiful, it’s like 25 stories high and just mammoth, and it’s done, it’s gone. It’s just sitting there, and that’s the other thing, they just leave things sitting there. But I will say this, there’s been a lot of artists moving into Detroit. I did notice that, because it is so affordable and artists usually don’t make a lot of money. What they’re talking of doing is just getting rid of a lot of the houses. There’s just a lot of houses that are sitting there abandoned, nobody knows who owns them, can’t find who does own them, and there’s talks of just leveling the houses and planting gardens so people can grow food. I think like that’s a solution. These are things that I’ve taken away from spending all that time there.

And that’s the thing. When you have a community that’s been demolished, how do you make the best of it? And like I said, a lot of themes I’ve seen on these songs are talking about resilience in the face of hardship. And you know, how do you overcome, when you’ve come all the way to the bottom?

Casey: Right. The one thing I will say and the other thing I noticed, it’s all coming to me as we talk (laughs) is that there is a lot of local community pride and ambition to keep things going, to build the city up again. And the people, almost all the stores I went into advertised “locally grown food” or “locally made clothes.” They really pride themselves in keeping businesses local. You know, they have breweries there, we’d go out to bars and the bars carried the local brews. I think that’s the sense of pride and perseverance that is still prevalent there among people that live there. It was really inspiring for me, because like you were saying, this is a city that, I mean I don’t know what a bottom is for a city, but it’s certainly not thriving and doing well. It’s in a transitional phase and it’s taking people that are living there and sticking it out, putting their hard-earned money and time and effort into making the best of it. I guess my hope is that it will flourish in a different way. It will be a different city, it won’t be this big automobile manufacturing city.

It sounds like you were definitely moved by your experiences there.

Casey: Yeah. It’s like you can’t not be. You’re spending all that time there, you know you go out to the pubs and the bars and talk to people. It’s just all around you. When you drive, you know we would drive, we didn’t stay close to where Dave’s house is so we had a fairly long commute and we’d go through neighborhoods and you just get a sense of it. You can’t not be moved by it.

Let’s talk about the record. There’s some great songs on there. I’ve had the chance to listen to it a couple of times. I’m really happy to hear what I heard, and you know, it’s not a your typical Flogging Molly record, but then again, what is a typical Flogging Molly record? You guys have always kind of evolved to different things through the course of years you’ve been doing this.

Casey: Yeah, I’m stealing your quote. I’m going to use that one, it’s a good one (laughs). It’s not a typical Flogging Molly record because what is a typical Flogging Molly record. Yeah, we always try to expand our comfort zone or challenge ourselves, because we’re a band of seven very different people that come from very different places and we’re different ages, different sexes, and completely different backgrounds and there’s a lot of musical influences in that and this band. It’s going to take a long time to exhaust them all. Having said that, it’s never a conscious decision to decide how you are going to maybe play on a song. For me it’s just, Dave plays it and whatever comes to me comes to me and I think playing in the band for almost 15 years now, it lends itself to that. We’ve just grown so much closer as a band, all the touring we do and the time we spend together. There’s just a sense of each other and what we do is get in a room and just do what you do. It’s not really that mathematical or thought out, so to speak. We tend to make different sounding records because we’ve also been doing it for 15 years. It’s no fun to make the same record over and over. I can’t imagine doing that.

When you guys first come together and start working on new material like this, is that still exciting for you? Is that a favorite part of doing this or more a labor of love?

Casey: I don’t really have like a favorite part about being…well, I think playing on stage for an hour-and-a-half or two hours is probably my favorite part. But I will say that, we don’t do it enough, make records, so I think it’s real burst of creativity and energy when we do, and I do think that’s another reason why the records maybe sound different. We tour so much, it’s hard for us to be in the studio as much as maybe we’d like to, maybe three years in between records. Personally, I just have a ton of ideas, bursting at the seams of all this music that you want to get out so I like the process. It is…don’t get me wrong, it’s not always easy. Sometimes it’s super easy, it takes like a half hour to write a song with the whole band, sometimes it takes a couple days.

One of the songs on there I noticed, “The Power’s Out,” it felt like you were channeling some Delta Blues on that one.

Casey: Yeah, actually that’s one of the one’s I’m most proud of because it is a song that has that Delta Blues but it’s got this traditional Irish part to it as well and I think we pulled it off, I mean if I say so myself. It isn’t like that it doesn’t sound like it fits, it fits perfectly and it sounds good and I think that just like kicked a whole new door open for Flogging Molly. I think it just turned into that. Dave is a very sparse guitar player so his songs are really open to interpretation.

Now you guys had been on Side One Dummy records for a long time. What made you to decide to start your own label, Borstal Beat Records?

Casey: It goes back to being in the band for almost 15 years and we were with Side One I think for 13, and we decided that it was maybe time to try and stand on our own and see what happens. I mean this could be a complete flop or failure, we don’t know, but we just thought it would be nice to try and go on our own. With the music business changing like it has, it seems like the right thing to do. We’d also like to maybe sign some our bands that we like, some of our friends, and then bring them out on tour with us, which we did with Side One quite a bit, brought along a lot of Side One bands, so we just thought why don’t we do this for ourselves.

And that’s a good thing. You’re creating your own home, but then somewhere that other people you admire, a home for them as well.

Casey: Yeah, because we all know, well everybody in the band knows, how hard it is to just get a tour, to be in a band that can tour, to get your foot in the door maybe for something like that is so hard, so very hard for so many bands, and how great would that be to offer that to someone. I mean I think that inspires us a lot.

The record comes out the end of May. For the rest of the year, it looks like you guys are booked here, then overseas, then back here, then over there. You guys are going to be doing a lot of touring and a lot of traveling.

Casey: Well, I’m on tour right now and we’ll finish up at the end of the week, take a couple weeks off, and go back and do a tour when the record comes out of the West Coast and then we’re going to head right over to Europe for the whole month of June. July, regroup again, then July we’re going to do more touring in the U.S. Then August, I think we go back to Europe and then, uh, you can just go back and forth with that. We’re going to be on tour now for a couple years. That’s what happens when you put a record out and that’s basically what we’re going to be doing.

CAVALERA CONSPIRACY and AMON AMARTH previews for ON TAP Magazine

some very metal shows coming to the DC area...these are a couple previews I did this morning for ON TAP Magazine in DC...

MONDAY, MAY 9
Cavalera Conspiracy and Lazarus A.D. at the Recher Theatre

The brothers Cavalera are back with their second post-Sepultura collaboration. “Blunt Force Trauma” was released this past March and is the much anticipated follow-up to their 2008 “Inflikted” debut, which saw Max and Iggor Cavalera creating music together for the first time in over a decade. A dark day descended into the history of metal when Max left Sepultura in 1996. It was a bad break and the two brothers, who formed the band in Sao Paulo, Brazil during the rise of death metal in the 80s, would not speak to one another for ten years. A phone call changed this a few years ago and led to the reunion that spawned Cavalera Conspiracy, backed now with Max’s bandmates from Soulfly, Marc Rizzo and Johny Chow. Now three years later, the newest output from this highly regarded “side-project” is blowing out speakers around the world.

"If you liked the first Cavalera Conspiracy album you're going to love this one," Max Cavalera said. "It's more brutal. It's more ‘in-your-face.’ Blunt Force Trauma is the feeling you get when you hear it."

With Iggor’s thundering drums and Max’s dark lyrical assault, the new songs channel pure metal with hardcore influences finding their way into the soul and structure, while never losing the tribal Brazilian roots that separate the Cavalera style from the rest of the metal community. It’s good to hear the brothers creating together once again, and they are enjoying the reuniting of family as well.

"It feels amazing to work with my brother Max again,” Iggor said. “I think this second album solidifies us more as a band and separates us from all this one shot projects. After touring all over the globe with Cavalera Conspiracy, it was time to write some new stuff and I am very proud of this release. Blood is thicker than anything."

Supporting Cavalera Conspiracy is Lazarus A.D. from Kenosha, Wisconsin who just released their second studio album, “Black Rivers Flow,” on Metal Blade Records. It will be a very heavy night.

Starts at 7 p.m. $18 advance $20 day of show. - Jason Walsh
Recher Theatre: 512 York Rd. Towson, MD; 410-337-7178; www.rechertheatre.com

MONDAY, MAY 2
Amon Amarth at Jaxx


The Swedish warriors have crossed the ocean once again, delivering their unique melodic death metal to unsuspecting Americans everywhere. Amon Amarth are winding their tour in the States to an end in support of their latest release, “Surtur Rising.” Dubbed “An evening with Amon Amarth,” the night at Jaxx will consist of two sets, the first being the band performing “Surtur Rising” in its entirety, while the second set will consist of songs from their eight previous studio releases. The Swedish outfit is unlike many of their black metal counterparts from Scandinavia.

“We’ve never called ourselves Viking metal and like most musicians, we just don’t like to put labels on ourselves,” Vocalist Johan Hegg said. “In our mind, it’s very much associated with bands that come out of Norway who are playing a very black metal oriented music and that’s not what we play. Sure, we have the same inspirations when it comes to the lyrical themes but musically we’re a completely different kind of metal so it’s tricky.”

The name “Amon Amarth” comes from the name of “Mount Doom” in Tolkein’s Middle Earth literature. Musically complicated and dynamic, the style the band has developed over the years is fast and powerful, and this newest epic showcases not only their talents, but their song crafting skills in creating a legendary tale through growling, apocalyptic music. “Surtur Rising” promises to be the band’s greatest effort to date and locals have a chance to see the entire record as it was meant to be heard.

"We can't thank our fans enough for showing their appreciation of our music and making this album our most successful release to date,” Guitarist Olavi Mikkonen said. “We are looking forward to performing the songs from Surtur Rising live and delivering a powerful, crushing set. See you on tour, cheers!"

Starts at 7 p.m. $23 advance/$28 day of show. - Jason Walsh
Jaxx: 6355 Rolling Rd. Springfield, VA; 703-569-5940; www.jaxxroxx.com

OFF! article for AMP Magazine

An interview with Keith Morris
by Jason Walsh

What began as a Circle Jerks reunion for an album of new material ended ugly, with founder Keith Morris moving onward with the project’s producer and principle songwriter, Dimitri Coates, to form the most explosive new outfit in modern music. OFF! is the energetic offspring of their creative collaboration in Morris’ Los Angeles living room. A throwback, in many ways, with fast-blazing standards clocking in at a minute a piece, spouting new messages of frustration and anger that echo the same sentiment found in Morris’s early hardcore beginnings in the mid 70s, fronting the infamous Black Flag. Though the times have changed over the past half century, the enemy still remains the same and OFF! sets their sights on all the wrongs they see in this world as well as those responsible, with a vicious rhythm section setting the pace.

Morris and Coates, frontman of Burning Brides, recruited legendary Redd Kross bassist Steven Shane McDonald and Rocket From The Crypt/Earthless/Hot Snakes drummer, Mario Rubalcaba, best known for his time as a professional skateboarder on the notorious Alva team in the 90s. Making their debut at last year’s South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, OFF! has stormed the underground and national media as well, performing on various TV shows, and finally releasing their debut 7-inch, “1st EP,” last October. A soundtrack for the “fed-up” masses, the 4-song vinyl featured “Black Thoughts,” “Darkness,” “I Don’t Belong,” and “Upside Down,” all of which ended up with some well-made videos that spread virally across the internet. The band then went on to release these same songs with “three more EPs,” for their first full-length, aptly dubbed, “First Four Eps.” In keeping with the DIY theme, they enlisted the artistic talents of Raymond Pettibon, who scribbled the art for the early Black Flag album covers, to create a new but recognizable look for the band’s new album covers and graphics.

Keith Morris is an iconic anti-hero, a revolutionary who isn’t afraid to speak his mind, confront that which he opposes, and call out the wrongs in the world, shaking his fist at those who are to blame. I had a chance to talk with the always outspoken Morris about the new project, how it came about, and how it has put the fire back in his heart.

Let’s start at the beginning. How did the whole thing start?

KEITH MORRIS: We were starting to work on a Circle Jerks record and I don’t really want to discuss too much about them because the interview really isn’t about them. I would just like to take this time to thank them for making OFF possible with another one of their really shitty, horrendous decisions. What happened was we were writing the songs for an album that they decided that they didn’t want to make. In the process, while I was writing these songs, Dimitri, who is the guitar player, and I said “we have to come up with a plan B because these songs are too good, to just allow, to not let anything happen with them.” We had to just put our foot down and say, “Look, let’s come up with plan B. Make a list of people that we’d want to play with if we were to start a band.” And, that’s pretty much what happened. I mean it got really ugly. The situation with the other guys that we were working with, who I will work with on occasion, but I don’t really want to. I’ll do everything that I can to not have to work with them because, for me, being around a bunch grouchy, grumpy, know-it-all…a type of like really uncool guys, and I don’t want to dis on them. So, what happened was we got all these songs, it’s like, “let’s do something with them,” but they’re obviously not going to be on a Circle Jerks album. They’re too good to be on a Circle Jerks album. I went and played the music, played four songs for Brett (Gurewitz-Bad Religion) over at Epitaph, and he was pretty much like, “those guys aren’t going to write anything this energetic, this exciting, this fresh, this new.” So, Epitaph made us an offer and we were close to signing a deal with Epitaph and one of the guys in the band I’m playing with, OFF, said, “look, it would be ridiculous for us not to see if there are any other companies out there, any other record companies out there, any other music people out there, that would be willing to put our music out, so let’s check that out.” So, Vice (Records) came along, and a s much as I love Brett Gurewitz, as much as I love all the people that work over there, we noticed there was going to be a new Weezer album, there’s going to be a new Bad Religion album, there’s going to be a new Social Distortion album, and good old OFF would have just been the black orphan. We probably would have got like third or fourth tier and Vice were just like doing backflips and somersaults. It was like we would be stupid not to go with these people. Plus, the fact that all these…there’s this whole wave of people that hate on the hipsters and really dislike them for being the people that they are but the fact of the matter is that the people hate on the hipsters are just as fucking weak as the hipsters are. It’s just this fucking dog chasing its tail. It’s the apple calling the orange fucking green, or what have you. But the thing with Vice is that their roster of bands is just as good or just as bad or just as horrible as any other roster of record companies, but the fact of the matter is, we love some of the bands that are on the label, like The Black Lips and King Khan and the Shrines. But with Vice it’s like they offer up a whole different flavor. They’re the party people. We need to go to the party and we need to prove ourselves to be the entertainment for the party.

So they’ve made themselves a pretty good home for you guys?

KEITH MORRIS: Effin’ great. We already experienced one real glitch, and it’s not that big of deal. It’s just some of the music had to get pushed back because of something that happened at the pressing plant. Other than that, they’ve been incredibly cool to us. They buy us sandwiches when we’re in Brooklyn, come to all of our shows. They love to hang out with us and they love us and we love them. It’s a beautiful situation. We’re all going to hold hands and we’re going to skip down the sidewalk and we’re going hum and whistle “la-ti-da’s” and really happy songs (laughs…) It’s a totally happening thing.

When you and Dmitri first started working on these songs and decided to do this as a different band, how many songs did you have together at the time?

KEITH MORRIS: Well, what had happened with the other band was one of the guys that thinks he’s the guy that has to have the most power in the band, decided he was going to go off with his other band, play on the Warped Tour for a few months, so it was like, “Ok guys, we got to have the record done before I leave.” It’s like, “Ok,” and Dimitiri said, “Ok, if we’re going to record a record, we got to have some songs, so guys, it’s time to write some songs. We’re writing songs. We’re all meeting in Keith’s living room,” because my place is most centrally located. And, nobody showed up. One guy took off and went off on a tour of Europe and one of the guys was just too bored or too lazy or sleeping all day long..the other guy, who probably has the worst work ethic out of everybody in the band, decided he’d show up one day for about 45 minutes and then he had like eleven excuses to ditch out on the deal. So, it was kind of like go off and be what you’re going to be, go do what you’re going to do. Dimitri and I sat in my living room and we continued to write songs for the album and in the process, Dimitri started playing some of these riffs that were like, for me, just mind-bogglingly great and took me back to a place called The Church in Hermosa Beach, and The Church in Hermosa Beach would be Black Flag South Bay headquarters. All of a sudden I’m starting to feel that energy, I’m starting to feel that kind of dark angry kind of vibe. It was perfect for where I needed to go at the time.

That’s something I noticed when I first heard the first four songs. It was like, “this is old hardcore but it sounds fresh.” It doesn’t sound like old songs being done, it doesn’t sound like new songs trying to sound old. It’s classic in a way, but it sounds but still fresh. I’m thinking you guys are having a lot of fun playing these songs.

KEITH MORRIS: We love playing these songs. In fact we just played four of them for some kids at FOX studios down in West L.A. for a television program called “FUEL TV: The Daily Habit.” The crew, the cameramen and the sound guys were like, “you’re the best band we’ve had in here” and they’ve probably had like sixty bands in there. We don’t call ourselves a punk rock band and we don’t call ourselves a hardcore band, because if you listen to our drummer (Mario Rubalcaba), he’s only influenced by John Bonham, which means with what we’re playing, and the kind of basslines that Steven’s (Shane McDonald) playing, because Steven comes out of a Paul McCartney…Alice Cooper Band, Geezer Butler/Black Sabbath, 45 Grave, Thelonious Monster, Gun Club…he’s got that kind of vibe. We’re not into the labeling, you know. Those are labels that somebody had to come up with to describe some bands when they couldn’t be more creative. They had to have their story done by 11:45. We’re a hard rock band and there’s all different directions we can go to. There’s different places we can take ourselves and for people that listen to our music. This just happens to be what we’re about at this time. I live in an area of Los Angeles where I’m at one of the busiest intersections, it could possibly be one of the top ten most busiest intersections in the world and it’s really ugly. People don’t care. People are too busy texting and talking and looking at their cellphones and accidents. People pulling guns on each other. People lining up buying meat to fatten themselves for the government that waits for them when they leave the supermarket. Helicopters, emergency sirens, the fire station, the hospital, the fact that about two-and-half, three minutes from…two Beatles songs from my house in a big parking lot that’s attached to a big supermarket and the people that go there, they’re the beaten down, lower-middle-class, lower-class, got to work three or four jobs to support their families, and so they’re not aware that whales are being slaughtered and porpoises are being slaughtered and dolphins are being slaughtered. Trees are being chopped down and oil companies don’t care about anything but making a profit. Armies are over in the Middle East killing people and there’s no reason for us to be over there. So, I’m just angry…I’m not bitter. I’m angry and I’m just a reflection of…I’m a mirror of what I see and some of the things I hear, and the guys that play in my band, they totally love it…

Very cool. Now that song, “I Don’t Belong,” everything you just described, that song sums up.

KEITH MORRIS: Well, we just may do a big political thing here in California, and it’s totally ridiculous because we have to get rid of a governor who shouldn’t have been a governor in the first place. We had an election to elect Schwarzenegger and 40% of the voting population showed up to vote. It was a circus. Jack Grisham from TSOL, he actually ran for governor and he got about 5000n votes, but he explained to me that the whole political situation was that he would never vote again because of being around all these people and he had the opportunity and the chance to see how these people operate. They’re just polishing stones and buffing these stones to make them as pretty as possible. But, we just had this election here where we were trying to legalize marijuana, which needs to happen, but it probably won’t because Budweiser and Coors, Jack Daniels, Dewers…all the alcohol companies don’t want their profits fucked with, yet the pharmaceutical companies, they want people on pleasant, pastel pills to keep them pacified. They don’t want people smoking marijuana. They don’t want these cancer patients, these leukemia patients, these people who are recovering from having cancer removed, to smoke marijuana to relieve their pain. Or you have these people who go through the radiation and because of the radiation they lose their appetite, and when you smoke marijuana, it gives you the munchies. They don’t want that to happen. You would think that Doritos and Hostess and General Mills would be pumping money into the “Yes on 19” vote. A lot of people don’t want it to happen. They’re afraid that our youth will just be wasted and think for themselves. You’d think that the government would totally back the marijuana thing because then you got a bunch of stoned people, you know where they’re at and you can keep them in their pen. You can keep them in their ghetto. You can keep them in a prison without walls, just keep them stoned all day long. But, yeah, we need to legalize it. And, the situation, the whole world situation is fucking ugly. I would love to sing about beautiful things. I would love to sing about hot-action party-chicks and mountains of cocaine and stripper poles and hanging out at the local bar and rubbing elbows with my bros, and checking out really happening music, but got more important things, more important subjects, more important stuff to sink my teeth into.

Now has this band rejuvenated you? It seems like, when I heard it, like I said, there’s so much life to it and it seems like you have so much energy in this. Has this been really good for you?

KEITH MORRIS: I’m excited, I’m happy, I love this band, I love the guys in this band. There’s not a lot of head trips. There’s a little bit of ego, but that’s OK, a little bit of ego doesn’t hurt, doesn’t kill anybody. A little bit of attitude, which is, “that’s cool.” A little bit of “uumph” and a little bit of toughness. The songs pretty much speak for themselves, the energy of the songs, the way that they blast out at you. I’m just totally psyched over this, totally jazzed. I don’t need to be doing anything else. Maybe mowing a lawn or watering some grass, watching the National Geographic, History Channel, what have you. But this…I needed this, because I’ve grown lazy and one of the guys in this band forced me to become un-lazy, and get with it, and get real. Start jumping around again, and it gives me something to look forward to. We’ve not been able to function as a real band because three of the guys are fathers, one of the guys works at Warner Brothers, one plays in two other bands, and so that all the scheduling is kind of like being in the last band I was in, but it’s well worth it because when the shit goes down, for me it’s fucking happening. It’s totally fucking happening.

OFF! has spent March and April touring the country, causing mayhem and havoc everywhere they go. Check a venue near you because this a show any punk and hardcore fan won’t want to miss, even though Keith said it himself, that they are just a “hard rock” band. But what is a label anyways?

AMP Magazine

DROPKICK MURPHYS "Going Out In Style"

DROPKICK MURPHYS
“Going Out In Style”
by Jason Walsh



The Boys on the Docks are back with a new collection of Celtic anthems, but this time have taken a different approach than in previous offerings. In the traditional Irish vein of literary storytelling akin to James Joyce, Dropkick Murphys created a concept album that tells the tale of a fictional character named Cornellius Larkin. “Going Out In Style,” released on the band’s own label, Born & Bred Records, chronicles the journey of the Irish immigrant who has passed on from this world, through retrospectives of his life and times, heavily influenced by personal experiences of the band as well as family folklore. Art imitates life as the epic saga of Cornellius reveals itself through the thirteen tracks on this newest record.

The Murphys enlisted the talents of friends like Fat Mike from NOFX, Chris Cheney from THE LIVING END, and even actor/comedian Lenny Clarke, best known for his role as Uncle Teddy on RESCUE ME. But the biggest surprise guest is New Jersey’s own Bruce Springsteen. I had a chance to catch up with Vocalist Al Barr before the record’s release to find out how the story came about as well as how the guys from Boston recruited “The Boss.”

First off, how are you doing, Al?

AL BARR: I’m good, been busy y’know. We’re getting ready to go on the road soon so we’re rehearsing a lot.

And you have a new record, “Going Out In Style,” coming out this March. Let’s talk about the new record. I heard it this week, been listening to it a bunch. It’s a really great record, but tell me about what you guys did to make this, because it’s a little different from some of the previous records you guys have put out.

AL BARR: Yeah, I mean it’s different from a couple different perspectives. I mean you got the perspective that it’s a bit of a concept record, the character “Cornellius Larkin,” kind of going through, y’know, coming through the songs and then it was the first time we worked with a producer (Ted Hutt) in years and I think that’s really evident when you listen to the record, because I think it’s a really big sounding record for us. We’ve layered the shit out of it.

So tell me how the idea for the Cornellius Larkin character came about and how you decided to not make it one ballad or maybe two songs, but there’s a lot of songs that involve him in this record.

AL BARR: When we started the whole process of writing, this is our seventh studio album and usually it’s two years between every record and this is three years. We didn’t really know where to begin in the sense that, “How do we make this record different than the other records? How do we make it better than the last one, and different and kind of not make the same record?” All these things came up and “Going Out In Style” was one of the first songs we wrote actually and when we talked about the song after writing it and putting it together, we realized there was a character in this song. The idea kind of came about from that, like “wouldn’t it be kind of cool to have a storyline that kind of went through the record?” So Cornellius was born.

When did you guys start working on this and putting this idea together?

AL BARR: Well, we started working on the record probably like the third week in August. I think all of us had been working a little bit, I mean I kept writing after the last record came out just so I could stay in the practice of writing. Everybody kind of did their own thing, but when we came together to do the record, I guess it was like the third week of August we started working on it and we worked straight through to December.

And like you said, you’ve put out a lot of records and no band wants to reinvent themselves every time they do a new record because that can be good and bad, so to go past that, y’know, “well, we’ve done something like this, now how can we make this fresher, how can we make this something different from the past?” Is that something that goes through your minds when you are doing a new record?

AL BARR: Well, that’s just it. Y’know, there’s a formula and kind of attitude in the band of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” but then we still want to challenge ourselves. You’re going to get your punk rock, your Irish, blah, blah, blah, and you know that already, so you know you’re going to have your folk stuff, your punk stuff. I mean I’ve heard people say we’re the Irish punk Ramones or the Irish punk AC-DC or whatever. I mean I’ve heard all that stuff and those are all big compliments, don’t get me wrong, but in the same sense, we wanted to keep challenging ourselves and make it interesting for the fans as well and I think we did with this one. I don’t think we’ve ever made the same record but it becomes more and more challenging the further into your career that you get, y’know.

When you guys sat down and it was all mixed down and everything, and you listened to it top to bottom, what was going through your mind when you were listening to it?

AL BARR: It’s funny, with records in the past, because you’ve been doing it, you’ve been writing it and recording it and you’ve got to learn it, you get sick of it on one level in the sense that it’s not so new anymore. But this record, everybody in the band is really excited about it. There’s an excitement there, in my memory, that hasn’t been there before. I know that I’ve been listening to it nonstop and the rest of the guys have been saying the same thing, you know what I mean, and I think we’re just real excited to get on the road and play it for the fans.

Very cool. Now there are some guests on the record. You’ve got Fat Mike (NOFX) in there, Chris Cheney (THE LIVING END), and comedian Lenny Clarke. How did you decide to get these three guys in there in the studio with you?

AL BARR: Well, y’know, everybody kind of came differently. Years ago, we wanted to do, on the “Sing Loud, Sing Proud” record, originally we had this idea of getting all these guests and I remember we sent out all these offers, y’know, invitations if you will, and everybody basically turned us down and we thought that was kind of funny. This time, we wanted to get some guests on there and we were kind of going through who would be good. We know Fat Mike, and Ken and Fat Mike play golf when we’re on the same festivals and when they come to town…they got this kind of kinship and I just kind of said, “what about getting Fat Mike on the record, wouldn’t that be cool?” and Ken’s like, “that’s an excellent idea, we’ll call him right now.” The Chris Cheney thing, we were in Australia and we did the vocals for “1953” in Australia. Y’know Chris Cheney had this studio called “Red Door Studios” in Melbourne, and he was nice enough to let us do the recording there and he was hanging around and we had to have him come and do some on the record and he was good enough to do that. Lenny is a friend of Kenny’s so Kenny asked him to do it and he said he’d do it, so that’s cool.

Now the surprise for me when I got the record and I read the press release, I looked and I did a double-take and said, “they did a song with Bruce Springsteen?”

AL BARR: (laughs)

How did that come about?

AL BARR: We met Bruce and it came to our attention a while ago, I want to say around 2006 or something, that Bruce was a fan of the band. We read in an interview that his son, Ryan, had gotten into us, so we reached out to him to see if he wanted to come to a show with his son and in 2006 when we were doing the St. Patty’s Day shows in Boston, he was supposed to come. It was funny, we got the call from the tour manager, “Bruce is in his limo and he’s on his way,” and the next phone call was “Bruce is turned around. There’s a bad snowstorm and he’s on his way back home,” and we were like, “fuck.” Then in 2007, when we released “The Meanest of Times,” we were in New York City at Roseland Ballroom for a couple dates and he came out to that show and y’know, we met him right before we went on stage. Then, he kind of returned the offer and invited us to one of his shows in Boston and our lead guitar player Jim (James Lynch) actually proposed to his now-wife on the stage and a bunch of the guys played with them. So, this kind of kinship was kind of born. When we were writing we were like, “wouldn’t it be cool if we got Bruce to be on the record? Ha, ha, ha.” Can’t hurt to ask, the worst he could say is no, so we sent an email out to him and much to our surprise it came back a “yes” that he would do it. That’s how all that came about. It was very cool.

I mean Bruce goes back, as far as American music history.

AL BARR: He’s an icon. In my mind, he’s Americana, y’know what I mean. He’s working-class and you know he’s got to put his money where his mouth is. He comes from that background. We have a lot in common with that, in terms of our values.

And that’s the thing…when I first saw it, I was like “what?” and then I thought about it and I was like, “well, yeah, it does kind of have that working-class common man theme to it.” But at the same time, Bruce Springsteen in 2011...he’s like one of our Beatles.

AL BARR: (laughs) Yeah, definitely. He’s an American icon. I mean there’s no denying it. I mean it’s a feather in our cap that we got him on the record, for sure.

It’s that time of year when you guys do your tour that winds its way to Boston for the week of St. Patty’s Day shows. You guys have been doing these for a while now. Are these shows still special for you guys, playing your hometown during that time of year?

AL BARR: Oh yeah, I think they get more special as it goes on because it’s become such an institution and every year it floors me to see that the shows sell out right away and it’s just insane. Y’know, I just wonder when the hell are people just going to get sick of this and they don’t seem to ever get sick of it.

So, after the St. Patty’s shows in Boston, you guys are heading to Europe.

AL BARR: Yeah, we’re heading over to Europe in April. Y’know, we’re going to be on the road supporting the record, I want to say straight through. Dates may not be announced yet, I don’t know where we’re going to be, but I know for the next year plus, we’re going to be on the road for sure.

AMP Magazine article online

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Happy New Year 2011